Chicago Center for Green Technology: A new Ecolect Partnership

With a 38,000 square foot green roof on city hall, Chicago is leading the way in being a genuinely eco-aware city. An active green business community combined with a progressive environmental department has led to a platform for leadership in sustainable development.

The CCGT, which opened in May 2002, was designed by a team of community businesses led by Farr Associates and was the 3rd certified LEED building in the nation. The building is a model of progressive green technologies (solar panels, ground source heat), and traditional resource efficient practices (passive solar heat, water barrels, greenhouses). Most of the construction materials used in this project were manufactured within 300 miles of Chicago Green Tech and 40% of the materials are made of recycled content.

Today, the Chicago Center for Green Technology is a resource for visitors to learn about the practices exhibited in the builidng. Homeowners tour the space as research for at-home green roof projects, radiant heating designs, etc. More serious or info hungry citizens and industry professionals attend the Green Tech U classes to acheive a greater understanding of the systems supporting “green” elements and their facets in society. They also have a resource center that serves as an exhibition space of green materials and a consultation space for homeowners and industry professionals.

Ecolect is proud to announce a new partnership with the CCGT. Interns from the resource center will be loading material profiles for us on Ecolect.net. In turn, Ecolect will be hosting an online materials database for them. Intern and material scientist Jessica Weninger, has already created profiles for materials such as EcoCycle Porcelain Stone, and Aluma Floor. Our goal is to build this database to include all 200+ mateirals found in the Center for Green Technology resource center.

We are proud to welcome them to our community and excited about the opportunities this partnership holds. To discover this growing database of sustainable materials search “CCGT” from the Ecolect.net home site.

100% Sustainable House at West Coast Green

It is functional. It is technologically advanced. It is beautiful. It is affordable. And it is absolutely green!

It is the Harbinger House, Designed by Lawrence Group. A single-family house entirely built inside the trade show of  the West Coast Green Conference, that took place in San Jose, California, last week. “Our goal was to try to produce a product that is economically feasible, and if you’ve got extra money to spend, you can make it a lot nicer,” said architect Eric Heischmidt of the Lawrence Group of St. Louis, Mo. The house is, in fact, sustainable from the structure itself, and everything used to furnish it. It is crafted from five shipping containers by SG Blocks (quite hard to belive just by looking!) for a total area of 1700 sf; containers are a prefabricated, modular recycled product that is growing in popularity as a building material. Windows provide excellent insulation and require less energy to manufacture than traditional windows. The woods used for the interiors are FSC Certified. Wall paints are low-VOC. Lights use low voltage bulbs, and have smart lighting controls. Sheets are made from organic cotton, and household electrical appliances are energy efficient. With GreenPoint and LEED certification in the plans, the Harbinger House is an excellent example of sustainable architecture to follow!

(images courtesy of www.inhabitat.com)

FSC certification program - a quick explanation -

We believe at ecolect that information is the main key to better design. We try to inform the design community about product solutions as well as the certifications behind the products.
FSC logo is probably something you’ve seen often in relation with sustainable wood. What does FSC stand for ? What is the mission ?

(excerpt from FSC official website)
“The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organization that brings people together to find solutions which promote responsible stewardship of the world’s forests.”

“FSC sets international standards for responsible forest management.”

“FSC accredits independent third party organizations who can certify forest managers and forest product producers to FSC standards.”

The interesting point about the FSC certification, is not only to focus on sustainability but also on the human and economic factors.

Sustainable : maintaining forests biodiversity, productivity and ecological processes.

Human factor : helping local people and society to enjoy long term benefits.

Economic : operations has to be profitable without compromising sustainability.

Learn more on FSC, organization website.

FSC-watch, a group checking and criticizing the quality of FSC certification program

LEED Rating System - A Quick Overview

(Don’t write differently something that’s well written ; )

From Wikipedia

“ The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction.

LEED was created to accomplish the following:

* Define “green building” by establishing a common standard of measurement

* Promote integrated, whole-building design practices

* Recognize environmental leadership in the building industry

* Stimulate green competition

* Raise consumer awareness of green building benefits

* Transform the building market

Green Building Council members, representing every sector of the building industry, developed and continue to refine LEED. The rating system addresses six major areas:

* Sustainable sites

* Water efficiency

* Energy and atmosphere

* Materials and resources

* Indoor environmental quality

* Innovation and design process

Certification

Different LEED versions have varied scoring systems based on a set of required “Prerequisites” and a variety of “Credits” in the six major categories listed above. Buildings can qualify for four levels of certification:

* Certified - 40-50% of non-innovation points

* Silver - 50-60%

* Gold - 60-80%

* Platinum - over 80% “

Learn more on the LEED certification program :

US green building council

wikipedia article